Nordby joins commish race
One day before the filing deadline, two more candidates have joined the race for the soon-to-be-vacant North Kitsap County Commissioner position.
Lynn Nordby of Bainbridge Island announced his interest Friday to the Kitsap County Democrats Central Committee. And Poulsbo resident James Weaver, who works as a senior planner for the Kitsap County Department of Community Development, has also announced his candidacy.
Nordby, 58, served as Bainbridge city administrator from 1991 to 2003, when he joined MuniFinancial, a consulting service. That company recently dissolved, so Nordby decided to seek the post being vacated by Chris Endresen.
Nordby said his “relative youth and experience” would make him an effective commissioner. He called himself “progressive and pragmatic” but said he was prohibited by law from Democratic Party activities when he was city administrator.
In a statement, Weaver said that his previous public service experience in Kitsap, King County, and in San Diego has “taught the methods to balance difficult choices and to search out a solution based approach to resolving conflict.”
Besides Nordby and Weaver, candidates are: Martha and Mary care center fund director Robert Gelder; Kitsap County spokesman Clarence Moriwaki; county Planning Commissioner Tom Nevins; county Treasurer Barbara Stephenson; Poulsbo Counselor Ed Stern; and anti-stadium activist Chris Van Dyk.
Nordby, Moriwaki and Van Dyk are all Bainbridge residents. It’s unclear when the county commission last included a Bainbridge resident, but it is believed to have been the 1950s.
Bill Mahan, who served South Kitsap Commissioner from 1969 to 1989, said, “there have been plenty of opportunities, but there has never been anyone from Bainbridge who was really interested.”
On Monday, the party’s executive committee will screen applicants for residency and party affiliation. Three names will be presented to county commissioners, who will select one to complete Endresen’s term.
Bigger boards for arts orgs
Sometimes in the arts, “on the boards” actually means “on the board.” New members joined the boards of directors of two local arts organizations, the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council (BIAHC) and Ovation! Musical Theatre.
BIAHC President Ann Blair welcomed an accomplished and uncommonly large new group of seven islanders to its board: Claudia Anderson, Diane Bonciolini, Fritz Levy, Ken Masters, Sally Prangley, Robin Purcell and Lauren Walsh.
Their broad range of professions and accomplishments spans visual arts, art history, literature, education, law, and non-profit development.
BIAHC provides coordination and advocacy for the island’s non-profit arts and humanities organizations as well as programs and community education in response to the island’s cultural needs.
Meanwhile, Ovation! Musical Theatre appointed two new members to its board, Robert Schaub and Tom Burt, also islanders.
Schaub has acted as technical director for Seattle Opera for sixteen years and has extensive experience as a lighting designer and technical producer.
Burt, who recently began performing in local community theater, is corporate vice president and deputy general counsel at Microsoft Corporation.
The two join standing board members Jon Doll, Peter Denis and Marijane Milton. Ron Milton, artistic director and one of Ovation!’s founders, will also serve as head of Ovation’s new executive committee with music director Corinna Lapid-Munter.
Milton said that the musical theater has grown tremendously of late – in its nearly five years of operation, the organization has brought in hundreds of local performers and volunteers and is in rehearsal for its 11th production this summer. “We felt it was time to evaluate our goals and realign our organizational structure to match Ovation!’s growth and potential,” Milton said.
Hoo? Orion, that’s who
Last December, West Sound Wildlife Shelter became the lucky recipient of a great horned owl. Born near Lubbock, Texas, the owl had a congenital problem with its right wing that left it unable to hunt or survive in the wild.
The rehabilitation facility that sheltered the grand but nameless creature decided to find it a new home and a new gig as an “education ambassador.” That’s when WSWS took the owl under its wing.
To raise awareness of the creature’s presence, WSWS – the area animal medical facility whose mission is to rescue, diagnose, treat and release injured and orphaned wildlife – held a “Name the Owl” contest this spring, inviting elementary students county-wide to submit their choices.
After receiving nearly 200 entries, the organization went with Kingston sixth grader Nikki Tatum’s choice of “Orion.” But Bainbridge made a strong showing as well; Blakely fourth grader Leigh Wright was the semi-finalist in the Bainbridge School District for her submission, “Echo.”
WSWS Executive Director Kol Medina, with Orion in attendance, will present Wright with honors this Tuesday afternoon at Blakely. Mike Pratt, rehabilitator and director of wildlife services, will accompany the two with a presentation about the owl.
